A slipcover is a removable furniture cover generally used in the furniture industry in lieu of fully reupholstering a piece of furniture. A slipcover may be applied to a piece of furniture, for aesthetic purposes, in order to change the appearance, or for functional purposes such as protecting the furniture from degradation. While universal slipcovers are available, they are prone to improper fit which can affect the aesthetics of the slipcover, and make the slipcover more difficult to install on the furniture piece. To achieve an optimal fit, common slipcovers are custom made to ensure they fit a respective furniture piece.
Producing a custom slipcover typically requires manual measurement of a furniture piece, creating individual fabric panels based off these measurements, and sewing the fabric panels together. The fabric panels generally correspond to the external surfaces of the respective piece of furniture, such as the arms, back, and seat. This manual process is not exact, and requires a degree of craftsmanship to properly size the individual panels and ensure a clean fit. The process becomes increasingly more difficult as curves and complexities are introduced to the shape of a furniture piece.
There is a continuing need for a method and system to improve the manufacture of furniture slipcovers. Desirably, the system allows electronic measurement of a furniture piece and automatically generates the individual panel shapes of the furniture slipcover. The system accounts for curvature and complexities in the furniture piece in determining a proper size and shape of each respective panel. The desirable system improves quality and efficiency, allowing an upholsterer to produce slipcovers in a more cost effective manner.